The other day, the following walked into our office. Thought this might make an interesting diversion from signed photos of Snookie and "The Situation".

Here's the catalog description, which I've edited for brevity: 

The solid cast brass desk set owned and used by Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler and all the other signatories in the signing of the Munich Pact in which the Sudetenland was ceded by France and England to Germany.

This historic desk set was discovered at Hitler's private offices in Munich (the "Fuhrer-Bau") by Lt. John L. McConn, Jr. in the Spring of 1945. McConn was in command of a detachment of soldiers ordered to occupy and guard the building. In exploring the building, McConn's men found a trove of Hitler's personal effects in the basement of the building, stored there to prevent damage from the incessant bombing by Allied forces. Among the items uncovered were mother of pearl and gold inlaid presentation lugers, an enormous gold and ruby ring, and most importantly, a huge collection of Hitler's purchased and stolen art intended for display in the never-constructed "Fuhrermuseum". The Allied Military Government was notified of the discovery just as water had begun to flood the basement, threatening the priceless works, and Army brass ordered the art packed and removed. As did every other G.I., McConn wanted to return home with a good war souvenir, and asked a corporal what  items of any interest might remain in the basement. The corporal mentioned a "desk set with interesting ink wells" in the corner of the basement. McConn claimed it, crated it himself, and sent it home to his father in Texas with as much postage as he could fit on the box.

In 1946 McConn returned home a hero, having been awarded the Silver Star for single-handedly taking a German machine gun nest and several prisoners in the process. Surprised that the desk set had actually arrived in the States, he kept it in his possession for 66 years. At times, the desk set was given to his children to bring to school for "show and tell", as its significance was not yet known.

Thirty years ago, while watching newsreel footage, McConn saw his "war souvenir" being used at the signing of the Munich Pact and realised what it was he had found in the damp, dark basement of Hitler's offices. 

The results of the Munich Pact were disastrous: the betrayal of Czechoslovakia eventually cost the country all of its territory. The avoidance of war prevented Hitler's generals from resigning en masse, or staging a coup d'etat, as nearly all had predicted defeat at the hands of the French and British. Convinced they had successfully "appeased" Hitler, the French and British neglected rearmament, and were totally unprepared when Germany invaded Poland a year later, with devastating results. The agreement even coercing Stalin into signing a peace pact with Hitler. Stalin concluded that the West had colluded with Hitler, and that they might do the same and partition the USSR. When the Germans launched their invasion, the Russians were likewise caught totally surprised, and within a week 600,000 Russians had been killed, missing, captured or wounded.

Is this worth more than a signed photo from "Bordello of Blood";) ??  Auction Dec. 8-9. 

Oh...and wait for the revelations about the Vatican, Franco, the SS and Otto Skorzeny...

Don Basilio de Europa